Can old flashlights be recycled?

Bulb recycling points

In Argentina, the most widespread methods are disposal in safety landfills and battery immobilization techniques: vitrification, cementation and ceramization. With this, what is done is to isolate the element, but the compound remains, so it becomes an environmental liability.

Light bulbs have materials such as glass and metals that can be recovered and reused, and in the case of fluorescent or energy-saving bulbs, they also contain mercury, a heavy metal that is highly polluting, so it is important to avoid breaking them.  The fluorescent tubes and light bulbs cannot be deposited in glass containers because they are made with mixtures of materials that make recycling with ordinary glass impossible.

Serviceable parts are reused after disassembly and cleaning for the manufacture of new printer cartridges. When parts cannot be recovered, the cartridges or toners are recycled: the plastic and metal parts are separated and delivered to recycling companies.

Light bulbs can be recycled

We all have light bulbs at home. And although they generally have a long life cycle, the time comes to get rid of them and we may not be sure where to dispose of them or how to give them a second life.

– Fluorescent bulbs are glass bulbs with mercury vapor inside, as explained by Ecoembes. Therefore, each of their parts can be recovered and recycled, and it is important that this is done properly so as not to release mercury into the environment.

– These bulbs use the same technology as traditional fluorescent bulbs, but consume less energy. However, they must also be recycled to reduce the impact on the environment.

– As these bulbs also contain mercury (“discharge” refers to mercury discharge) they have to be recycled at a clean point so that the parts can be separated and the metal isolated.

– LEDs.  LED bulbs do not use gas or halogens inside, but diodes and metals. They are less polluting and more efficient than traditional bulbs, and can be recycled without any problem in any clean point.

How to repair a truper rechargeable flashlight

A battery is a portable generator of electrical energy, which is obtained from the transformation of chemical energy. A battery does not lose its electrical charge except by the physical degradation of its components and this process is irreversible.

A battery stores electrical charge previously produced by a generator, and it loses its electrical charge constantly over time, whether it is used or not. A battery can be recharged as many times as necessary, until its structure is degraded by use.

Third option: The reality is that when the technology to perform these recycling as in the previous two processes is not available, physicochemical processes are used to reduce the impact and mobility of heavy metals. These techniques include stabilization by the addition of chemical agents that are soluble with the metals, confinement in hermetic containers and encapsulation with cement, followed by vitrification at high temperatures.

Recycling plastic light bulbs

Of course, there are bulbs that can do this conversion role, but the result may leave you a little unhappy if you’re looking for a lot of power. What you will get will be more autonomy, reliability and a more suitable color temperature.

Thank you very much for your reply, impressively accurate and clarifying. I have seen the LED bulbs you mention and they seem to me a reasonable alternative to the usual bulbs, despite their price, given the savings in batteries and the gain in safety (because they can’t burn out).

All three are based on the Luxeon I LED, so if they are powered at 350 mA it is normal that they have about 45-50 lumen. Another thing is how long they can give that light considering that the cooling of the diode will be bad.

holas, pos aki teneis the modification I made to the flashlight, I have ke improve some aspect, but certainly goes great, and gives very good light, much more than it gave the origin, autonomy about 90 minutes asin by eye